Compositions
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KADDISH
A large-scale work for orchestra, choir, and soloists inspired by the Jewish mourning prayer, exploring grief, silence, tension, and spiritual transcendence through powerful choral writing and contemporary orchestral textures. The composition blends modernist language with Jewish liturgical influence in an emotionally intense and deeply reflective musical landscape.
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VIEWS AND POINTS OF VIEWS
An intimate chamber work for violin and piano exploring contrast, dialogue, and shifting musical perspectives through expressive melodic lines and contemporary harmonic textures. The composition balances emotional intensity with structural clarity, reflecting a modernist yet deeply lyrical musical language.
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ABSCHIED
A vocal chamber work for mezzo-soprano and six instruments inspired by texts of Rainer Maria Rilke, exploring themes of departure, memory, and emotional transformation through rich harmonic textures and expressive contemporary writing. The composition combines lyrical vocal lines with intimate and atmospheric instrumental interplay.
BIOGRAPHY
About the composer
Avi Berman is an Israeli composer born in Tel Aviv in 1971. He began composing at the age of eight, performing his early piano works in conservatory concerts before continuing his musical studies at the Jerusalem Academy High School of Music and Dance under the guidance of composer André Hajdu.
Berman later studied composition at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, Universität der Künste Berlin, and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he pursued graduate and doctoral studies.
His music is rooted in the contemporary modernist tradition of the Second Viennese School while drawing influence from Jewish liturgical and cantorial music, non-Western musical traditions, and heterophonic textures. His work is recognized for its emotional melodic language, rich harmonic sonorities, and distinctive orchestration across chamber, orchestral, vocal, and interdisciplinary forms.
Alongside concert music, Berman has created numerous multimedia and interdisciplinary works combining music with dance, theater, spoken text, video, and sound installation. His compositions have been performed internationally by orchestras, ensembles, festivals, and cultural institutions throughout Europe, Israel, and the United States.